Comedian and Love Island’s sarky voiceover star, Iain Stirling, is encouraging Edinburgers to love their leftovers as he partners with campaign group Zero Waste Scotland in bid to rid the country of food waste.

Every year, a heart-breaking £200 million worth of food is wasted in Scotland’s hospitality sector.

Valentine's Day. Source: Pixabay.

Around 34 percent of this is estimated to be ‘plate waste’ – good food left over at the end of a meal.

As Edinburgh hospitality businesses gear up for the year’s first seasonal busy spell, Iain is asking diners to consider if they are ‘good to go’ – the nationwide scheme that encourages restaurant-goers to take home their leftovers.

Zero Waste Scotland research suggests as many as 42 per cent of diners in Edinburgh are currently too shy to ask for a doggy bag.

Former Liberton High pupil, sell-out Fringe stand-up and kids TV presenter, Iain Stirling became a household name after presenting the popular ITV2 reality show Love Island said: “People used to think you were ‘cheap’ if you asked for a doggy bag, but that’s changing. It’s no longer something your dad insists on, just because the place you’re eating has an obligatory service charge!

“I mean what’s not to love about saving the planet by eating tasty leftovers?

“With Good to Go, you can always take your half eaten lasagne home, in case your date isn’t keen on the idea.”

Diners are being encouraged to spread the word about Good to Go by asking their local restaurant to join the scheme, which includes a free starter pack containing 300 boxes, bags and communications materials.

Zero Waste Scotland’s food waste campaigns manager, Ylva Haglund, added: “Perfectly good food is going to waste right across Scotland due to the stigma of requesting a doggy bag.

“Our Good to Go pilot showed that if restaurants across Scotland routinely offered doggy bags to their customers, it could save the equivalent of 800,000 full meals from going in the bin each year.

“Wasted food is not only a waste of money, it’s also a major contributor to climate change. That’s because when we waste food, we also waste all the energy and resources that went into producing it and getting it to our table. On top of this, if food waste then ends up in landfill, it will generate even more emissions in the form of methane gas, many times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

“With Iain’s help, we’re hoping to spark a change that encourages even more Scots to reappraise the humble doggy bag and ask to take their leftovers home this Valentine’s Day and all year round.”